15 Times Kris Jenner Worked Her Magic (And Made Millions Using Her Daughters)

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We've all seen the tweets that say, "the devil works hard but Kris Jenner works harder," yes, but did you know they aren't just funny, they are true. Kris Jenner (previously Kardashian, originally, Houghton) started her life out knowing she was meant for wild success and fame. Okay maybe she didn't know all of that, but she did have her goal of being a well-to-do wife and mother set, and she was sticking to it. Kris met her first husband, Robert Kardashian, a high-profile attorney when she was only seventeen years old (and had a boyfriend at the time). Robert was 29, so do what you will with that piece of information. Fast-forward and through some drama, and Kris managed to wed Rob in 1978, and the first Kardashian was born— Kourtney, then Kim, Khloe, and Rob Jr.

Things didn't work out, and Kris divorced Rob in 1991, then immediately (literally in the same year) married Bruce (now, Caitlyn) Jenner. A few years later, Kendall and Kylie came along, and the Kardashian/Jenner clan was complete. We know Bruce has other kids, like Brody, a fan favorite on reality series, The Hills, but as they're not really connected to the Kardashians, we won't be including them.

Kris has proven time and time again that she knows what she's doing as a momager (mom + manager, a term she's trademarked). Say what you want about the Kardashians, but you can't say they don't know how to make money. In this list, we'll be discussing 15 times Kris Jenner spun a story to make her kids more rich and famous!

She Literally Created The Kardashians

Honestly that 'literally' was used for emphasis, and the irony of it didn't hit us until just now, but we're keeping it. For those of you who don't get the joke, the Kardashians use the word 'literally' far too often, and don't use it correctly, either. But back to Kris now; she is the reasons that we live in the same time as the Kardashians and KUWTK. While some people hate that (Why? They're just living their lives. Don't be mad because you don't have their money), most of the global popularity can't get enough of this wild family.

Kris, as we mentioned earlier, has spent her life being a wife and raising her six children. She was a flight attendant for a while in her youth, but we're not counting that. Now, the mother of six has become a reality star, and we have to say one of the best managers in Hollywood. Loving children and motherhood has to be a gene, as she definitely passed it down to all her daughters. Maybe not Kendall just yet. Recently, the Kardashian sisters have been having babies— nearly every month it seems. Even her son, Rob, has a beautiful daughter, Dream, and we hope to see more K babies soon!

She Started Off Managing Kim

In the early days, when the Kardashian/Jenner clan wasn't rich and famous— just rich— Kris started her momager career with Kim. As we all should know by now, Kim got her first taste of fame by hanging out with Paris Hilton. Paris was literally (It's catching on, okay? And, at least, we're using it right!) Kim's boss for a while. Here are the pics to show it. It wasn't until a certain video was released in 2007 that Kim catapulted to fame. With all this exposure, Kris knew that this was make or break it time. Sure the family already had money, but this could launch them to stardom.

Kim was already working as a celebrity personal stylist and personal shopper at the time. Man, first jobs in LA sound so much better than anywhere else. Except for New York, maybe. Anyway, Kim was styling celebrities like Paris Hilton, Brandy, and even Lindsay Lohan. Brandy's brother is the music artist, Ray J, so that's where that story began. In 2006, the Kardashian sisters— Kim, Kourtney, and Khloe— opened up their own clothing store, DASH. So they were already business owners before KUWTK premiered, meaning they aren't just famous for being famous— not entirely anyway.

She Produces KUWTK

Of course, Kris has to be a part of the creative direction for the show. She needs to make sure that she is always there and knows everything about what's going on with her children! She is the momager, you know. As one of the creators of the show, Kris has also been a producer on various episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians since its start in 2007. Kris may not have all the Hollywood know-how of producing, but she certainly knows her children and knows how to make them look and seem more appealable to the public.

There's always debate happening where people question whether Kris is the best mom out there, or if she exploits her children for money. It's a fair question, and everyone is allowed their opinion, but personally (another pun), we are on the side of the mother of the year, Kris. The Kardashian sisters weren't children when their TV show aired in 2007. Kourtney was 28, Kim 27, Khloe 23 and Rob was 20. They were fully-fledged adults who made their own decisions long before KUWTK. Admittedly Kendall and Kylie were children, but TV show or not, those girls were rich, and they were always going to grow up to do what they wanted. Kris just helped them along.

She Sets Up Brand Deals

We wish we could have a mom like Kris Jenner, if we're being honest. Her momager style makes so much money for her daughters, and we think that sounds pretty nice. Don't you? One thing that makes Kris so good at managing is all the brand deals she gets for her children. Now that they're big names (probably the most recognized name other than Beyonce), the Kardashians generally don't endorse much anymore. Sure, they might post about some sort of weight loss tea every now and again, but with the amount of money they have from their various businesses, they don't need to anymore.

Wind it back to 2009/2010, however, and brand endorsements were a huge help in getting the Kardashian name up there. Kim, as the face of the Kardashian family, was the one in the spotlight. She has endorsed a lot of different products over the years, no doubt with the help of momager Kris. She has endorsed lollipops, alcohol, beauty products, Sketchers, laser hair removal products, silly bandz, nail polish, weight loss pills, Carls Jr., swimwear, and even public restrooms. You name it, Kim's endorsed it. For those who are laughing and thinking that it's over the top, just look at the Kardashian/Jenner's now... all that hard work paid off.

She Helped Set Up The Spin-Offs

No doubt, if you're a fan of KUWTK, you've seen Khloe and Lamar, Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, Kourtney, and Kim Take Miami, Kourtney and Khloe Take the Hamptons, Dash Dolls, Life of Kylie, I Am Cait, and finally, Rob & Chyna. Phew, what a list. It just further proves more how good of a manager Kris is. While we admit that none of these shows really lived up to the standards of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, that was the genius of it. Even in some of these series only had one season, you still heard about them, and the Kardashian name never left the headlines. Go, Kris.

Kris was also an executive producer on most of those shows, as well as her short-lived talk show, Kris. We're actually kind of sad that never went anywhere. Kris Jenner seems like such a cool person, it would have been nice for her to have a successful talk show. We're not saying she could ever be as big as Oprah or Ellen, but Kris is still pretty cool. Kris is a pretty good manager to herself as well. Even though her talk show didn't go anywhere, her cookbook was quite the success.

She Managed Her Ex, Caitlyn Jenner

Kris didn't just become an amazing manager overnight for her children— she started with Caitlyn! When Kris first married Bruce (in this article, we'll refer to her as Bruce because it's easier to read, but there's no disrespect to Caitlyn now, we support her), she was used to the lavish lifestyle that her former husband, Robert (famed attorney), had got her accustomed to. Despite being a former Olympian, Bruce wasn't all that wealthy at the time. He was making little money doing motivational speeches, and the household now had eight children between them. Using her initiative and brain for business, Kris became Bruce's manager.

Working as his manager and publicist, Kris basically started up Bruce's career again. She would send out press kits (basically just information about Bruce) to media outlets and contact speakers' bureaus. Her hard work paid off as Bruce had deals lined up with Coca-Cola and Visa. Eventually, they teamed up and worked on a workout video series (starring them, obviously) where Bruce would instruct viewers on how to work out properly. Sounds like the coolest infomercial ever, are we right? From there on out, Kris had the experience and the contacts to officially start her career as a manager/publicist. Since the pair separated in 2015, we think it's safe to assume Kris no longer manages her.

She Partnered Up With Ryan Seacrest

As a lot of us know, Kim's tape with her boyfriend at the time, Ray J, pretty much launched her career. In the process, she launched her family's career, basically. What you might not have known, however, is that Kris was already thinking about a reality TV series focusing on her large family. Before the tape was leaked, Kris was already interested in pushing her family in the direction of becoming reality TV stars. With Kim's fame being an opportunity, Kris was not going to waste it. She was in talks with Ryan Seacrest (yep, he started them off!) and cameras came around to film a casual Kardashian Sunday lunch. Just to test out the waters and see if there was any potential for entertaining TV. Clearly, there was.

Ryan Seacrest himself had this to say about the magical moment. "I remember perfectly: he called me from their house Sunday afternoon and said, 'It’s absolutely golden; you’re going to die when you see this tape. They’re so funny, they’re so fun, there is so much love in this family, and they’re so chaotic—they throw each other in the pool!'" After hearing the good news, Ryan immediately sent the tape to E! and the Kardashian world take over began. Good times.

She Manages All Of Her Children Now

After seeing the success of Kim's career and the fact their family TV series was a smash hit, Kris decided it was time to get the whole family's careers going. Kris now manages all six of her children's careers. We know that Kim is like the main Kardashian, but Kris really is the brains of the operation. Kris Jenner does not rest either, you think the girls' careers were just made on their own? Kris, as the good manager she is, pushed her children into everything, modeling (which worked out for Kendall), singing, acting, dancing. She worked every angle and it paid off.

Now that her children all have various business and are more family-oriented (Kendall is still focusing on her modeling), Kris can take a seat for a while and just bask in her hard work. Oh wait, she already does that. While we admit that we don't hear a lot from Rob these days, he does actually have a successful business. Rob owns his own line of socks called Arthur George. Of course, each Kardashian/Jenner child makes a fair amount of money from KUWTK, but mom, Kris, is always there to help out, too. She made $11 million in 2016 alone, she can afford it.

She Kicked Off Kendall's Modelling Career

Whether you agree or not that Kendall Jenner is good at modeling, she's still one of the most famous models in the world right now. If you're a loyal, long-time KUWTK, viewer you will remember this one particular scene, where a 14-year-old Kendall runs to show her mom and dad a portfolio of her photos and tells them she wants to be a model. It's all history from there, but we're here to discuss it in full detail.

It turns out that, as much as Kris wanted her daughter's dream to come true, she didn't know anyone in the industry. That would never stop our favorite momager, though. Kris immediately tried to find a way to get Kendall into the industry. So she found Victorias Secret photographer, Russel James, and set up a meeting for him and Kendall. Who knows if she paid him, we're not saying she did, but it's a possibility. Ten days later, the meeting was had and Russel told Kris, "You're right, she's beautiful, and I can't wait to work with her." So there it is. After that Kendall worked her way up, and now, is one of the most well-known names in modeling.

She Sets Up Events For The Girls To Attend

Apart from getting endorsement deals to make her daughters' rich (sorry Rob, but you don't do as much as the girls, let's be honest), Kris also has to boost their fame. Or had to... Anyway, a big part of managing is also getting the clients to attend events. As a socialite starting out, attending events can be good for meeting people, networking, and building your contacts— basically, trying to find a way into fame. The Kardashians are now paid to attend events, with the purpose being to boost the attendance or knowledge of the event.

We're not talking about Met Gala or anything like that. That's already a huge event, and as much as we love the Kardashian/Jenner's, we kind of wish they'd stop going. Or at least follow the theme if they're going to. When not attending events, Kris makes her own event. No one knows how to throw a party like the Kardashians, for example, Kendall's 21st, Kris' 60th, Kim's 35th, Kylie's 16th, and more (there are a lot of birthday parties with six children). We suppose having a beautiful mansion to host parties in and all the money in the world makes a huge impact on how awesome the party is.

She Gets 10% Of Her Kids' Earnings

As the old saying goes, 'there are no friends in business.' There is no family either, according to Kris Jenner's rules, apparently, as the multi-million dollar manager receives 10% of all of her children's earnings. That's not 10% of the six either, that's 10% each! We think if we earned 60% of the Kardashian fortune, we would just retire to an island in the Bahamas, and you would never hear from us again. Ever. For those of you thinking that 60% seems like a bit much, you should go back to the start and reread this list. Kris Jenner literally and figuratively created the Kardashians.

Kris does put in work though, she has more than just her children as clients. Kris may not showcase it, but she has been a manager to a fair few talents, even if all of them didn't agree with her management style. We have a hard time believing that she would be so strict on her own children, after all, she's not their manager she's their momager. A rumor went around earlier this year that stated Kris was taking over as manager for her son-in-law, Kanye West, and Kylie's baby daddy, Travis Scott. We wouldn't be surprised if Kris tried to keep it in the family, but she declared the rumors were false. Maybe next time, Kris.

All Kardashian News Is Announced On KUWTK

Of course, it is! It's not like they struggle to keep ratings up, but keeping all their big (should probably be private) news to announce on their reality show is the reason the Kardashian's don't struggle for ratings. As an unofficial rule of reality TV, you obviously have to keep the juiciest news secret until it can be announced on reality TV, duh. Life isn't any different for the Kardashians. While Kylie did keep her pregnancy a secret until baby Stormi was born, she did finally reveal it on KUWTK. Let's be honest, the fact she stayed off Instagram for nine months gave it away.

Khloe's baby, True's, gender was announced on the show, as well as her marriage and divorce to her ex, Lamar Odom. Kim had her wedding to the basketball player, Kris Humphries, on the show, as well as their speedy divorce— just 72 days later. Often, births are seen in episodes as well. Not the nitty-gritty stuff, but remember that time Kourtney went into labor with and was doing her makeup first? Classic. Hey Rob, here's one for you, his daughter, Dream Kardashian's, birth was also celebrated on an episode of KUWTK.

She Doesn't Give Up On Failed Plans

If there's anyone on Earth who embodies the word persistent, it's Kris Jenner. Sure, we've talked a lot about the successes of her manager career, and her family life. We haven't discussed the many times that Kris made plans that fell through. Instead of giving up, Kris just got back up and made another plan. Her persistence is probably the reason the Kardashian's have made it to where they are today. One plan that failed was her own talk show, Kris. We did discuss this earlier, and even with huge guests like her son-in-law, Kanye West, the show only had a few episodes before its cancellation.

The Sketchers endorsement went terribly because people sued the company, claiming the Kardashians gave false hope to customers, who assumed the Skechers would get them butts like Kim's. Let's not forget the fleeting writing career that Kendall and Kylie had...we hope that the real author of those books got paid what they deserve. Then there was also the time that they tried selling nail polish, but it never really caught on, and our guess is because of the names they gave them.

She Supports Kylie Cosmetics

As the trademarked momager claims, Kris manages her girls but is also a supportive mother to her children. When Kylie said she wanted to get into makeup and starting her own cosmetics line, Kris was obviously there support her. Kylie did manage it on her own though, and yes, we know that she had all the money needed so it was easy for her to start a business, but give credit where credit is due. Kylie has made $420 million dollars since the opening of her brand, which is a pretty hefty profit.

She started out with lipsticks and liners, but since then, Kylie has moved onto eyeshadow palettes, eyeliner, blush, highlight, and eyebrow gels. It's thanks to the fan worship that Kylie Cosmetics has been so successful. According to this interview with the people who actually make the makeup (ha), Kylie Cosmetics is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week business— constantly trying to keep up with demand. They make as much as humanly possible, but when Kylie drops new stock it still manages to sell out every single time. That's the influence she has on the world. Personally, her life sounds like a dream to us.

She Guides Her Daughters' Business Ideas

Well, who better to help set up a successful business than the woman who literally created the Kardashian empire? As we know, nearly all of the Kardashian/Jenner children run their own businesses. It's a way of making money without really working, and connects them to their many fans. Starting from before Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the girls have always been business minded. In 2006, Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe started up their own clothing boutique, DASH. In April of this year, they closed the doors to DASH, but the memory lives on.

Kim also has her own makeup line, KKW Beauty. She mainly focuses on concealers, contour, and other powders, but it has just been announced she's launching her own lipsticks and liners! Watch out, Kylie. Khloe has her own line of jeans called Good American. The line focuses on the shapely women who can't find normal jeans to fit their curves. Recently, Khloe has expanded to add a maternity line called Good Mama. Naturally, we believe Kris was the helping hand that assisted the girls with all the behind the scenes action.